“Brian Long (former A&R executive): I remember when their second record came out, we really liked them and were championing them, but we were all wondering if they could develop in a way that would make an interesting career. The analogy we used to make was, will they end up making a London Calling? Could they be that? Or is it going to be just cutting different colors from the same swath of fabric? And that’s kind of what’s happened.”
Narrator’s voice: Indeed, they did not make a London Calling. Despite making good records in the 2000’s fans and critics continued to rally around the legacy of their amazing debut, Is This It. Nevertheless, lead singer of The Strokes, Julian Casablancas, with his side project, The Voidz, have released their new politically charged album, Virtue – and boy is it something.
While the Strokes were largely politically innocuous, Julian has taken a new approach with The Voidz. They are sonically eclectic, and supposedly politically aware and steadfast. Yet, beholden to what, (if anything) is unclear. Rather than proposing a more radical politic for listeners, the album seems to be a rallying point for a resigned a-politic. In other words, the album is cognizant insofar as it is ambivalent. The politics, a domineering presence on the album, ultimately yield to concerns over the immediate self, which is resigned to the madness of it all. With this in mind it is appropriate the album closer is “Pointlessness”.
The Album is supposed to be a red pill for the listener, but like trying to swallow a horse pill this album is largely insufferable. Example being, “Think Before You Drink.” Essentially a lo fi acoustic ballad of disillusionment concerned with how the education system is manipulated to validate the state's actions.… If you go to any College Dorm you can actually get this content without subscribing to apple music, trust. The song’s red pilling testimonial, while posturing as profound and heart wrenching, amounts to a very cringe worthy experience. We could dive further into the album and discuss some of its themes; the futility of language; “truth” and lies”; “obliviousness,” or “willful ignorance." Yes, the amount of supposed “red pill” moments is bountiful, but I’m sure you have things to do today, and going any further here is not necessary... For nevertheless, of all the bodies of influence that affect change on this album, in implicated chaotic and catastrophic ways, it is Julian’s own sense of self that is the most prominent threat. On “Lazy Boy” he says,
“I don't wanna be a puppet that the ghost of my young self
Still controls.”
Plot Twist: Julian is the puppet master. Here we see politics are secondary to the self.
Here is where one may side eye. The album is a self indulgent congratulatory pat on the back for the individual resigned to the madness of politics. Moreover, only through a certain level of privilege can one arrive at the “Pointlessness” of it all. In other words, IT MUST BE NICE to think it’s all “pointless” while so many are compelled to organize in order to effect real change over people’s lives. However, it is not exclusively a certain level of privilege that accounts for this way of thinking. It is also a residual of Neoliberalism, a political ideology that above all champions the immeasurable ability of the individual. This provides the rationale for the album - the most politically reveloutionary thing one can do is insulate oneself from politics; one is virtuous insofar as they are removed from politics. Neoliberal thinking also appeared during the Grammys this year. U2 was very dramatically staged in front of the Statue of liberty and sang “Get Out of Your Own Way.” The performance, given the positioning of the stage and our current political climate, was designed to promote feelings of solidarity with immigrants. Meanwhile, lyrics like,
“Nothing's stopping you except what's inside/I can help you, but it's your fight, your fight,”
do not in the slightest reckon with, or acknowledge, the reality being imposed on immigrants in this country. Yet, it is appropriate to sing of ideals when positioned in front of the Statue of liberty, an idyllic symbol of what America represents. It would be inappropriate to sing the same lyrics if positioned, say, I don’t know, atop Donald Trump’s wall. Indeed, ideals run incongruent with reality. It’s not what’s lacking “on the inside” that explains the plight of immigrants - it is the material circumstances that are being imposed on them. Moreover, yielding to ideals rather than acknowledging such circumstances make “your fight,” as an immigrant, all the more incredibly difficult insofar as it hinders any real solidarity. Perhaps even worse would be to acknowledge such circumstances, even make an album out of it in doing so lets say, only to declare everything is pointless - solidarity in this case is unattainable because the concern is to further insulate oneself from politics; the concern is solidarity and consolidation with the self's interests. This is supposedly the ultimate expression of freedom, yet this insulation only creates an absence of any real solidarity, and leads to our fellow man becoming more vulnerable to exploitation, and thus will inhibit a sense of freedom within his own life. In any case, to actualize solidarity one must acknowledge the circumstances that are necessitating that solidarity in the first place. That process of reckoning is stifled by a privileged, or neoliberal, worldview that fosters ideals as the most potent agent of change.
The dormant politics of the Strokes seem to have surfaced on this Voidz album. However, to retrospectively make sense of the Strokes career exclusively through the lens of Julian Casablancas’ disorienting politics would be a disservice to the band. Julian Casablancas is not the only member of the Strokes, and he is not the only member to have recently released an album. Lead Guitarist of The Strokes, Albert Hammond Jr. provides a solid outing with his album, Francis Trouble . The music is mostly politically benign, but the same could not be said of the music video for his “Set to Attack.” In light of what appears to be an unsatisfying heterosexual relationship a more gratifying queer relationship emerges. Albert Hammond Jr’s representation of such a relationship is more progressive and redemptive than anything on Virtue, full stop – and here’s the kicker, it rocks !
Works Cited
http://www.vulture.com/2017/05/the-strokes-an-oral-history.html